Westminster government must follow Welsh lead in supporting colleges and universities

Commenting on the new support package, UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: 'This announcement is a welcome recognition of the problems that both further and higher education face. It is important that both colleges and universities use this funding to protect jobs and expand opportunities for students.

'Ministers in Westminster now need to step up their game and deliver more than the piecemeal funding with problematic strings attached that we have seen so far. Universities and colleges across the UK need urgent support from the Westminster government so they can continue to function and are in a position to lead our recovery from the current crisis.'

UCU Wales official Margaret Phelan said the announcement 'should provide some short term assurance to universities that they have no need to make any job cuts as a consequence of a short fall in funding due to Covid-19. We have issued a Freedom of Information (FOI) request this week to establish the impact of the funding announcement on universities' plans to terminate fixed terms contracts.  

'We also have the results from the FOI we conducted in June 2020  if you wish to see the response from your institution, contact the Wales office on wales@ucu.org.uk.'